Surgery Program

Surgery that's tailored to fit kids

Kids are different from adults, so their surgeries are, too. Children react differently to anesthesia and pain, and their smaller bodies may require special surgical equipment. At Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, the dedicated surgical teams focus exclusively on the unique needs of young patients.

At Children's, surgeons perform more than 24,000 procedures each year on unborn babies, infants, children, teens and young adults. Our outcomes rank among the best in the nation for pediatric surgery. Plus, parents appreciate our family-focused approach to surgical care. In surveys, 97% said they felt welcome at Children's. We think you will, too.

A broad range of surgical treatments

At Children's, we cover kids' surgery needs, from the tops of their heads to the tips of their toes. If your child needs a sophisticated, multi-part surgery to treat a complex heart defect, we can do that. And if your child needs their appendix removed, we can do that, too.

Whatever type of surgery your child needs, we'll always make it a top priority. We offer a full-spectrum of surgical specialties:

When it comes to technology, we're best in class

At Children's, your child has access to highly skilled, experienced surgeons using the most up-to-date tools and techniques. Below is a small sampling of the outstanding services that make our surgical care stand out:

Minimally invasive surgery reduces the need for incisions through the skin. This results in less pain, less scarring and a faster recovery. For example, surgery to remove an appendix can sometimes be performed using specialized instruments that are inserted through a single small incision in the navel. Surgeons at Children's were among the first in the Twin Cities to use this virtually scarless technique with children.

Robotic surgery is another type of minimally invasive surgery. It uses a robotic arm controlled by a surgeon to make extremely small and precise movements. Using special miniaturized tools, surgeons can perform delicate procedures; for example, unblocking an ureteropelvic junction (UPJ) obstruction (a blockage in the tube running between the kidney and bladder).

Intraoperative MRI scans and maps the brain during surgery to pinpoint the exact location of tumors. With this technology, some brain tumors that were once considered inoperable can now be removed.

LITT (laser-induced thermal therapy) is a minimally invasive surgical procedure that uses heat and MRI imaging to treat brain tumors and epilepsy. Requiring just a small incision, the technology helps minimize pain and significantly reduces recovery time. In fact, we were the first in the country to operate on a mature teratoma using LITT.

Fetal diagnosis and surgery provide state-of-the-art care for babies still in the womb. For example, fetoscopic laser ablation therapy is a laser surgery used to treat twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (a condition in which the blood flow from a shared placenta goes more to one identical twin than the other).

We're fortunate to also have highly experienced pediatric anesthesiologists, pain management experts and child life specialists at Children's. The surgery teams work closely with these professionals to help stop pain and anxiety before they start.

Plus, as an organization dedicated to family-centered care, we offer many child and family services and resources, such as financial information, chaplaincy and more.

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Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota is registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Contributions to the Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. Our tax identification number is 41-1814223.